Willamette alumna appointed governor’s chief legal advisor

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has chosen Willamette University alumna Liani Reeves ’98, JD’01 to be his chief legal advisor.

Reeves’ duties will include working on tribal issues, handling some public records requests and offering legal advice on policy matters.

Reeves, who earned her bachelor’s degree in religious studies and her law degree at Willamette, most recently worked as deputy chief trial counsel for the Oregon Department of Justice. Prior to joining the department, she worked for the National Crime Victim Law Institute, studying cases of sexual violence against women and working to strike down laws that negatively impacted victims.

She also is involved in the community, where she leads the Oregon Commission on Asian Affairs, is active in the Oregon Minority Lawyers Association and mentors minority law students. Her achievements in her career and the community caught the eye of the Portland Business Journal last year when it named her one of its Forty Under 40.